Egyptian Writer Who Criticized Islamic Extremism Is Assassinated

A prominent columnist was gunned down and died early Tuesday, and a Muslim extremist told interrogators he killed the writer because of his outspoken attacks on militant Islam, police said.

Police said Farag Fouda’s killer was a member of Islamic Jihad, the extremist group responsible for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1982.

Fouda, 49, was hit by a dozen bullets late Monday while getting into his car outside his office in Cairo’s Nasr City. His 15-year-old son and a companion were hurt.

A few hours earlier, Fouda, a Muslim who had criticized Islamic extremism in his columns in the magazine October, had announced plans to form a new movement to unite Egyptians of all religions.

Analysts said Fouda’s killing could signal that extremists who want Egypt governed strictly by Islamic law are shifting their targets from government officials to writers in a campaign against secularism.